Morgan Hill’s John Ellis falls 1 stroke short of final round
MORGAN HILL
John Ellis went down swinging.
The Morgan Hill golfer wrapped up play at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Saturday by finishing 1-under par (69-74-72–215).
Although he failed to qualify for Sunday’s championship round – with the cutoff at 2-under – Ellis wouldn’t have competed on Sunday anyway.
In fact, nobody did.
The final round was canceled because of inclement weather, leaving Dustin Johnson as the rain-delayed champion. Johnson finished at 15-under 201 and earned $1.098 million.
Playing his final round on Spyglass, though, Ellis hit the green from behind a pair of trees and then sank the putt from about 25 feet away for his third birdie of the day.
“I hadn’t made many putts, so it was nice to make one like that,” he said.
Ellis also had birdies on holes 7 and 11, but he fell into a hole early after bogeying holes 2, 5 and 6.
“I knew I would need a couple birdies down the stretch to guarantee me playing tomorrow,” Ellis said. “I thought if I had at least one it would be good enough to make the cut. It’s a little frustrating. I thought it might be good enough. I just wasn’t really sharp all week.”
Even though Spyglass doesn’t have the winds from the ocean that Pebble Beach provides, Ellis said the course can be deceiving.
“The wind plays tough in the trees because sometimes you can’t feel it,” he said.
Ellis, a Live Oak High School and Gavilan College alumnus who played his fourth year at Pebble Beach, said he would try to learn from the experience despite the disappointment.
“I was pleased with the way I hung in there and battled over the last 14 holes,” he said. “I came here with hopes of winning the tournament, but hopefully I can get something out of it. It gives me a little more experience.”
Ellis plans to take a couple weeks off and then participate in some qualifiers for the Nationwide Tour.
